Mold disk position indicator



p 1957 R. c. MYERs 2,807,353

MOLD nzsx POSITION mmcma Filed Sept. 19. 1955 INVENTOR.

A TTORNEY.

Uni-ted tates Patent 2,807,353 MOLD DISK POSITION INDICATOR 7 Ralph C. Myers, Denver, Cole. I I Application September 19, 1955, Serial No. 535,116

7 Claims. c1. 199-48) means for visually and conveniently indicating the operative setting of the mold disk at all times.

I A further object of the invention is to provide an indicator attachment susceptible of expedient association with conventional type casting machines to at all times manifest the operative setting of the machine mold disk at .a point convenient of view from the station of the machine operator.

'; A further object of the invention is to provide a novel 'andimproved construction and organization of elements constituting a mold disk position indicator for type casting machines.

. A further object of the invention is to provide a novel [and improved mold disk position indicator for type casting machines adapted for operative correlation with and automatic reaction to the mold disk positioning means of conventional such machines.

{A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved mold disk position indicator for type casting machines that is adapted for production as an attachment suited for optional association with conventional such machines, that is convenient of operative association with conventional machines with no material modification or di'sas'sembly thereof, that is simple and inexpensive of production and installation, and that is positive and efficient' in the attainment of the ends for which it is designed.

. [With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and operative. combination of elements as hereinafter set forth,

pointed out in my claims, and illustrated by the accom panying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a fragmentary, conventionalized diagram of typical mold disk and'mold disk positioning means constituting an environment wherein the instant invention is adapted to function in a mounting and relationship as shown. Figure 2 is a half-face, diagrammatic elevation of the mold disk and related element as viewed from substantially the plane indicatedby the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the indicator of the invention as mounted in position of use, certain elements of the operative assembly being jbroken away and otherwise concealed elements being shown in broken lines.

-' Figure 4 is a multi-plane section through the organization according to Figure 3 taken substantially on the indicated line 4-4 of Figure 3.

- Many type casting machines currently in use are pro- ;ivided with a disk member carrying a plurality of differently-di'mensioned molds for the casting of type slugs of different sizes. The mold disks are mounted for rotation and the moldsare so arranged on the disk as to permit of their selective registration in operative relation with the correlated mechanisms of the machine through rotation of the disk accomplished by means of a manually-rotatable operating handle convenient to the machine operators station, the arrangement customarily being such that one complete revolution of the operating handle is effective to substitute a next adjacent moldfor one previously in use position. A disadvantage ofthe conventional mold disk and mold disk positioning arrangement is the inability of the operator to visually check the adjusted .position of the mold disk from the usual operating. station, and since the position of the disk is critical to competent operation of the machine, shift of the disk toa new position of adjustment is a normal and frequent concomitant of machine use, and check of the disk position involves a re moval of the operator from his station, the instant invention is directed to the provision of an indicator readily mountable on the conventional .machine iniposition to be easily read by the operator at his station and automatically reactive to mold disk adjustments to at all times show which of the molds carried by the disk is positioned for use.

In a simplified representation eliminative of much as sociated mechanism not pertinent to an understanding of the instant invention, Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a mold diskand operating handle arrangement of a typical type casting machine wherewith the improved mold diskposition indicator is designed to function. A mold disk 10 is mounted on appropriate fixed frame elements, not shown, for rotation in a vertical plane about a central axis 11 and carries sixmolds 12, of varying size, in a symmetrical arrangement on one of its facesandin a uniformity of spacing radially from the disk center, which molds are adapted for individual and successive registration with slug-casting, matrix-line-positioning, and other mechanisms of the machine at the option of the operator. The disk It) is provided with a peripheral gear 13 which is in contant mesh with an idler pinion 14 rotatably carried by the machine frame and a shaft 15 journaled in spaced parallelism with the disk axis in bearings 16 carried by the machine frame mounts a gear 17 meshing with the pinion 14 to' reflect rotation of said shaft through the gear train as proportional rotation of the disk 10, the gears 13 and 17 being in a ratio of six to one effective to successively register adjacent molds in position of use in reaction to each complete revolution ofthe shaft 15. Optional rotation of the shaft 15 is had through the agency of a stem 18 rotatably and reciprocably engaged through a fitting 19 carried by the machine frame in a disposition such as to coaxially align said stem with the shaft and to locate v the end of the stem remote from the shaft conveniently adjacent the operating station of the machine. At its end remote from the shaft'15, the stem .18 is shouldered and externally threaded for coaction with a detachable handle 20 appropriate for manipulation of the stem. Thestem 18 is spring-biased to an inoperative position at the limit of its predetermined range of axial travel outwardly and away from the shaft 15 and opposed ends of'the shaft 15 and stem 18 are worked tothe form of complementary clutch members slidablyinterengageable upon inward shift of the stem 18 to couple the shaft and stem for simultaneous rotation. Thus, a given mold being registered in position of use and it being desired to bring a' different mold into the use position, the operating handle 20 is shifted to move the stem 18 against the pressure of its biasing spring and inwardly of the fitting 19 to engage the clutch member on the inner end of the stem with the complementary member at the adjacent end of the shaft 15, whereafter the said handle is rotated to effect con- --sequent rotation of the shaft 15, associated gear train,

and mold disk with successive advance to use position of the next adjacent mold at each complete revolution of the handle 20. All of the foregoing is but indicative of conventionaltype casting machine construction and operative organization @which, being in and of itself no' part ,ofthe instant inventiomis sho wn and briefly described .only to establish an environment for the present invention and to provide an operative background essential to an understanding of the invention.

While the operating handle 20 is manipulable for selective positioning of the molds by ,an operator at the usual keyboard station of a typecasting machine, the mold disk is not disposed "for visual check from said station and the operator must either trust to his memory as to mold disk adjustmentorleave his station for visual check ofthe mold disk position when a change of molds is required. To obviate. the inconvenience and uncertainty just noted; the .invention hereinafter described provides a mold. disk position indicator disposed for visual check fromthe keyboard station of the type casting machine and automatically reactive to mold disk shifting manipulations of the handle 20 to, at all times designate the disposition of the molds relative to the use positions thereof. The indicator is designated generally by the numeral 21and is shown mounted forpractical use in Figure l as comprising a rotatable dial assembly fixed to and upstanding from the outer end of the fitting 19 and an actuating finger 22 fixedly projecting radially from the junction of the handle 20 and the stem 18 forcoaction at times with revoluble elements of .the said assembly. The rotatable dial assembly of the indicator is constituted as a cylindrical base member 23 oflsuitable rigidmaterial formed with a chordally fiat area 24 interrupting its circumference and a frusto-conical dialelement 25 of rigid material having a circular major base area coextensive with a circular face area of the member 23 coaxially and revolubly associated with said member 23 in juxtaposed, overlying relation of its major base area with a circular face of the member by means of a bolt or stud 26 engaged and secured through registered bores formed for its reception centrally through the member and dial element, :thus to dispose the conical margin ofthe dial element 25 in a convergence away from the associated member 23. While the invention contemplates the use of any expedient pivotal connection between the member 23 andzdial element 25, it isof some practical advantage'to utilize for such purpose a stud bolt having a smooth cylindricalpportion adjacent the head whereon the dial element 25 may rotate and formed with a threaded portion in shouldered relation with the smooth cylindrical portion adapted for coaction with an internally-threaded bore through the member 23,; thus to provide for locking the bolt 26 in secure, immovable relation with the base member by means of a nut 27 on an end ofthe threaded portion projecting beyond the base member while accommodating free rotation of the dial element 25 on and about the smooth cylindrical portion of the a bolt, as is clearly represented in Figure 4. Fixed in, as by a press fit, and outstanding perpendicularly from the lesser base area of the dial element 25 inwardly adjacent the circular margin thereof, a pluralityof like, cylindrical pins 28 isprovidedin a number and uniform angular spacing correspondingto the number andangularspacingof the moldscarried by the disk 10, and a number or symbol 29,.

identical with the numbersor symbols identifying the molds of the mold disk, is. represented on the conical margin of the dial element adjacent and in position to characterizeeach of the, pins 28 in a sequential arrangement the reverse of that of the *molds, there being hence six pins28, with their identifying indicia 29, for the indicator designed for "a machine ,having a six-mold disk. Yieldably retentive of the dial element 25 in each of the indicating positions to which it :is rotatably adjustable about the bolt 26, a ball-nosed, spring ,detent 30 is seated in the base member 23 with its nose opposed to and spring-urged against the major base ofthedial element 25, and an annular series of recesses 31 accommodative of the detent nose is formed in the major base of the dial element in a uniformity of angular spacing the same as that of the pins 28 and in such relation to the disposition of said pins and the location of the detent 30 as serves to yieldably latch the dial element to the base member in a like correlation of each pin 28, or of each indication 29, with a fixed point of the base member, such as a spot or mark 32 on the margin of the latter opposite to the flat area 24 thereof. The detent 30 imposes a yieldable resistance to rotation of the dial element 25 relative to the base member 23 when the detent nose is engaged in one of the recesses 31, and upon rotation of the dial element overcoming the latch effect of the detent, the latter relatches in the next adjacent recess at each interval of dial rotation corresponding with the angular spacing between adjacent pins 28.

The rotatable dial assembly is designed to be mounted ,on the end of the fitting 19 adjacent the operating .stem

18 with its lesser dial base area coplanar with the end .of the fitting and the pins 28 projecting parallel to and above the stem 18 beyond the fitting end plane. Adapting the assembly for such mounting on conventional type casting machines, a pair of spaced, parallel, like holes perpendicular intersecting the flat area 24 of the base member 23 is provided for the slidable accommodation of cylindrical pins 33 releasably securable in the holes ,by means of set screws 34 threadedly through the circular face of the base member remote from the dial element in perpendicular engagement with the pins. The pins 33 member is disposed for rotation out of contact with the.

fitting. Ends of the pins 33 projecting beyond the spacer block 35 are externally threaded for coacting engage ment within holes formed for their reception perpendicular to and through the upper surface of the fitting 19 inwardly adjacent the outer end thereof; the drilling and tapping of such holes being the only mechanical alteration or modification of the conventional type casting machine requisite for attachment of the improved indicator thereto. The holes for the reception of the threaded ends of the pins 33 having been formed and tapped in appropriate relation with the end of the fitting 19, mounting of ther'otatable dial assembly on and in operative relation with the type casting machine is a simple and rapid operation. The set screws 34 are loosened and the pins 33 withdrawn from their seatings in the base member 23 and the released pins are then threadedly engaged within the holes provided for them in the fitting 19 and are so fixed to upstand "in spaced parallel relation from the upper surface of said fitting, the spacer block 35 is engaged over the upstanding pins 33 and against the upper surface of the fitting, the member 23 is reengaged with the portions of the pins 33 projecting above the spacer block and moved downwardly on said pins until the flat area 24 rests against the upper surface of the spacer block, and the set screws 34 are then tightened in the base member to lock the latter to the pins, in which mounting of the assembly the dial element 25 is directed toward the operating handle 20 with the free ends of the pins .28 carried thereby extending beyond the plane of the outer end of the fitting 19 in spaced parallelism with and above the stem 18.

The rotatable dial assembly when mounted on the type casting machine as shown and described is operatively coupled for synchronous reaction to manipulations of the operating handle effective to adjust the position of the aso'mba mold disk by means of the actuating finger 22, which finger is constituted as an annular plate 36 adapted 'to slip over the threaded end of the stem 18 and'to be clamped to and for rotation with said 'stem between the inner end of the handle 20 and the stem shoulder against which said handle end normally abuts, and an integral lobe 37 radially outstanding from and beyond the periphery of the plate 36. To mount the finger 22 in its intended position of use, the handle 20 is unscrewed from/the stem 18, the plate 36 is slipped on the exposed end 'of the stem and inwardly thereof to engagement with the shoulder of the stem outwardly adjacent the end of the fitting 19, and the handle '20 is replaced on the stem and tightened into secure clamping relation with the said plate 36, The plate 36 of the actuating finger 22 has a maximum diameter such as to clear and pass freely below the lowermost pin 28 of the dial element 25 when the operating handle is shifted to engage the inner end of the stem 18 with the shaft 15, in which disposition the lobe 37 of the finger is revoluble with the operating handle through an orbit overlying the lower arc of the dial element 25 in perpendicularly-intersecting relation with certain of the pins 28, and the lobe 37 has a width, or dimension tangentially of the plate 36, loosely receivable between adjacent pins 28, a rounded tip, and a length such as to overlap and extend inwardly of the dial element across the rotational orbit of the pins 28 a distance appropriate to move a pin 28 engaged *by said lobe through an arc of sixty -degrees at each revolution of the handle 20 and associated stem 18.

Organized and mounted for use on a conventional type casting machine as shown and described, the improved indicator functions to at all times manifest the adjusted position of the mold disk within the visual range of an operator at the keyboard station of the machine. In the inoperative position of the attachment, illustrated by full lines in Figure 1, the lobe 37 of the actuating finger 22 depends below the stem 18 when the handle 20 is springurged to its idle position away from the fitting 19 and the dial element 25 indicates through registration of the appropriate pin 28 and associated symbol 29 with the mark 32 that one of the molds positioned for use through previous adjustment of the disk 10. It being desired to bring a different mold into use position, the operating handle is shifted inwardly of the fitting 19 to clutch engagement of its inner end with the shaft 15 and the finger 22 is correspondingly shifted to close proximity with the outer end of said fitting, whereupon a complete rotation of the operating handle effective to accomplish a one-stage mold change sweeps the finger lobe 37 across the lower arc of the dial element 25 and into such engagement with the lowermost pin 28 as functions to rotate the dial element through an arc of sixty degrees, which is the same as the angular displacement of the mold disk, to bring into registration with the mark 32 that pin 28 and associated symbol 29 indicative of the mold so shifted to use position. Irrespective of the direction of operating handle rotation or the number of complete revolutions thereof, every change in mold disk adjustment accomplished thereby is automatically and faithfully applied to and through the indicator attachment for visual representation thereby of the adjusted position of the mold disk, the reversed sequential arrangements of the identifying symbols on the mold disk and-dial element 25 compensating for the opposite rotational travel simultaneously applied to the mold disk and dial element when the operating handle is rotated. Upon completion of a sixty degree shift of the dial element 25, the lobe 37 clears the pin 28 with which it has been engaged, but at such time the detent 30 latches into one of the recesses 31 to retain the dial element in its adjusted position and against inadvertent displacement. Obviously, spacer blocks 35 of graduated thicknesses may be utilized at the time of attachment installation to mount the rotatable dial assembly in proper operating correlation with the actuating finger 22, as structural "variations in diverse type casting machines may'require. Y

Since changes, variations, and modifications in the form, construction, and arrangement of the elements shown and described may be had without departing from the spirit of my invention, I wish to be understood as being limited solely by the scope of the appended claims, rather than by any details of the illustrative showing and foregoing description.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a type casting machine having'a mold disk characterized by a closed succession of uniformly and angularly related molds rotatable about its axis and an operating handle axially shiftable into actuating relation with said disk and then revoluble to rotate said disk through the arc equivalent to each ,rnold position at each full revolution thereof, of an-indicator dial visually manifesting the arrangement and sequential relation of said molds mounted adjacent said handle for revolution about an axis paralleling that of the handle, pins fix edly projecting from the face of said dial parallel to the handle axis in an arrangement corresponding with that of the molds, and a finger fixedly projecting radially from the handle coactable with said pins during disk-actuating manipulation of the handle to rotate said dial in maintained correlation of its mold position representation with the actual positions of the molds.

2. In a type casting machine having a mold disk characterized by a close succession of uniformly and angularly related molds rotatable about its axis and an operating handle axially shiftable into actuating relation with said disk and then revoluble to rotate said disk through the are equivalent to each mold position at each full revolution thereof, a mold disk position indicator comprising a dial visually manifesting the arrangement and sequential relation of said molds mounted adjacent said handle for revolution about an axis paralleling that of the handle, pins fixedly projecting from the face of said dial parallel to the handle axis in an arrangement corresponding with that of the molds, and a finger fixedly projecting radially from the handle coactable with said pins during diskactuating manipulation of the handle to rotate said dial in maintained correlation of its mold position representation with the actual positions of the molds.

3. In a type casting machine having a mold disk characterized by a closed succession of uniformly and angularly related molds rotatable about its axis and an operating handle axially shiftable into actuating relation with said disk and then revoluble to rotate said disk through the are equivalent to each mold position at each full revolution thereof, a mold disk position indicator comprising a dial visually manifesting the arrangement and sequential relation of said molds mounted adjacent said handle for revolution about an axis paralleling that of the handle, pins fixedly projecting from the face of said dial parallel to the handle axis in an arrangement corresponding with that of the molds, a finger fixedly projecting radially from the handle coactable with said pins during disk-actuating manipulation of the handle to rotate said dial in maintained correlation of its mold position representation with the actual positions of the molds, and means yieldably retentive of the mold in each of its finger-adjusted positions.

4. A mold position indicator attachment for type casting machines having a mold disk characterized by a closed succession of uniformly and angularly related molds rotatable about its axis and an operating. handle axially shiftable into actuating relation with said disk and then revoluble to rotate said disk through the are equivalent to each mold position at each full revolution thereof, said attachment comprising a base member adapted to be detachably fixed adjacent said handle, a dial visually manifesting the arrangement and sequential relation of said molds carried by said base member for revolution about an axis paralleling that of the handle, pins fixedly project- "inlfromthe face of said dial parallel'to the axis of dial rotation, andizalifinger adapted for fixed attachment to and 'in radialiproieotion fruom the handle for coaction with said pins and consequent rotation of said dial during disk actuating manipulation of the handle. 7

a 5. The attachment according to claim 4, wherein said dial, pins,and finger are operatively correlated to shift ,mhe dial in maintained correlation of its mold position representation with the actual positions of the associated molds.

6. The attachment according to claim 4, wherein a spning-biased detent carried by the base member coacts with recesses in the surface of the dial adjacent said member to retain the dial in its various positions of rotational adjustment.

7. The attachment according to claim 4, wherein means for detachably fixing the base member to and in operative association with the type casting machine comprises an edge margin on said member conformably engageable 'withaframe element of the machine adjacent the operat- .beyond said edge margin, threads on the projecting ends of saidjpins adapted for coaction with threaded holes in isaid frame element, and a set screw threadedly associated with the base member perpendicular to and clampably engageable with the inner end of each of said pins.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS r 2,123,822 Mead July 12, 1933 

